Who is on Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ for Gaza?
The White House has named the figures who will make up the Trump administration’s newly announced “Board of Peace” for Gaza, a body meant to oversee the territory’s interim governance and the early stages of reconstruction.
President Donald Trump will chair the group. According to the White House, the founding Executive Board will supervise a separate committee of technocrats responsible for running Gaza during a post-war transition period.
Each member of the board is expected to oversee an area considered “critical to Gaza’s stabilisation,” though officials have not yet spelled out who will be responsible for which priorities.
The initial list includes no women and no Palestinians. The White House said additional appointments are expected in the coming weeks.
Here is who has been named to the founding Executive Board so far.
Sir Tony Blair
Former British prime minister Sir Tony Blair had been widely discussed as a possible member long before the announcement. Trump confirmed last September that Blair had expressed interest in joining the board.
Blair led the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and remains a polarising figure because of his role in taking Britain into the Iraq War in 2003.
After leaving office, he served as Middle East envoy for the Quartet — the United Nations, European Union, United States and Russia — from 2007 to 2015.
He is the only founding member of the executive board who is not a U.S. citizen. Blair has previously described Trump’s Gaza initiative as the “best chance” to bring an end to years of conflict and suffering.
Marco Rubio
As U.S. secretary of state, Marco Rubio will play a central role in shaping the administration’s foreign policy and its approach to Gaza.
Before Trump returned to office, Rubio spoke out strongly against a ceasefire, saying Israel should eliminate Hamas entirely. More recently, he has praised the first phase of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement reached in October, calling it the only workable option.
Rubio has also criticised moves by Israel’s parliament toward annexation of parts of the occupied West Bank.
Steve Witkoff
Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, will also serve on the board. A real estate developer and longtime associate of the president, Witkoff has been closely involved in negotiations surrounding Gaza.
Earlier this month, he announced the start of the second phase of Trump’s plan, which includes rebuilding Gaza and fully demilitarising the territory, including the disarmament of Hamas.
Witkoff has said Hamas will be expected to comply fully with the agreement or face what he described as “serious consequences.”
He has also played a role in U.S.-led diplomacy related to the war in Ukraine, including extended talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow late last year.
Jared Kushner
Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner has again taken on a role in foreign policy discussions and will sit on the executive board.
Kushner worked closely on Middle East diplomacy during Trump’s first term and has since acted as a mediator on issues involving both Gaza and Ukraine. In November, he met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss unresolved points in the Gaza negotiations.
At a public appearance at Harvard University in 2024, Kushner drew attention for comments suggesting Gaza’s waterfront could become economically valuable if development were prioritised.
Marc Rowan
Billionaire Marc Rowan, chief executive of New York-based private equity firm Apollo Global Management, has also been named to the board.
Rowan had previously been seen as a potential contender for U.S. treasury secretary during Trump’s second term.
Ajay Banga
Ajay Banga, president of the World Bank, is another founding member.
Born in India in 1959, Banga became a U.S. citizen in 2007 and later spent more than a decade as chief executive of Mastercard. He was nominated to lead the World Bank by former President Joe Biden in 2023.
Robert Gabriel
Robert Gabriel, a national security adviser, rounds out the list of founding executive board members.
Gabriel has worked with Trump since his 2016 presidential campaign and later served as a special assistant to Stephen Miller, one of Trump’s closest advisers.
On the ground in Gaza
The White House said Nickolay Mladenov, a former Bulgarian foreign minister and United Nations Middle East envoy, will act as the board’s representative on the ground in Gaza.
Mladenov will oversee a separate 15-member Palestinian technocratic body, the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, which will be responsible for day-to-day governance during the post-war period.
That committee will be led by Ali Shaath, a former deputy minister in the Palestinian Authority, which governs parts of the occupied West Bank not under Israeli control.
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